Volume 1, Chapter 168: Liang Jinmo pinned her against the wall and kissed her lips.

This kiss came very suddenly. After the initial daze, Xu Zhi remembered Zhao Nianqiao in the kitchen.

She turned her head, subconsciously wanting to avoid it.

However, the man cupped her chin and turned her face back.

"My mom—Mmph."

Her lips were blocked again. Liang Jinmo pinned her against the wall and kissed her deeply.

Perhaps due to a lack of oxygen, her mind went blank and her heartbeat raced. She was forced to tilt her head back to accept the kiss, her hands instinctively wrapping around the man's waist.

After who knows how long, he pulled back, lightly bit her red, moistened lips, and asked in a raspy voice, "Still laughing at me?"

...Such a grudge.

She wanted to laugh inside, but suddenly Zhao Nianqiao's voice came from outside: "Zhi-zi, come give me a hand!"

Xu Zhi's nerves tightened. She quickly pushed him away and whispered, "What are you doing... My mom is outside."

The door wasn't even closed. If Zhao Nianqiao walked over, she would be able to see the two of them.

Liang Jinmo felt like she was acting like a timid quail again and teased her, "Coward."

Xu Zhi truly was a coward. By the time she finished washing the flour off her hands and face and returned to the kitchen with Liang Jinmo, her heart was still pounding.

She had the lingering feeling of doing something wrong behind her parents' backs.

Zhao Nianqiao gave her a meaningful look, then glanced at Liang Jinmo, and her gaze suddenly froze.

Xu Zhi was already feeling guilty. Following Zhao Nianqiao's line of sight, she felt her entire world crumble.

Earlier, when she was holding him, the flour on her hands had left a distinct, white handprint squarely on his dark blue sweater.

When they came out, she had only focused on cleaning her face and hands, completely forgetting about this major oversight.

Her face flushed crimson. She slapped the handprint and stammered, "You, you... how did you wrap the dumplings... how did you get so much flour all over your clothes..."

Liang Jinmo took a slap out of nowhere, looking completely baffled as he stared at her.

With her face burning as if it were about to bleed, she gave the spot a few more rapid slaps and declared, "I patted it clean for you."

Liang Jinmo lowered his gaze and looked down, seeing that his sweater had now been patted into one big white smudge.

At least it didn't look like the shape of a hand anymore, Xu Zhi comforted herself. But when she turned back and met Zhao Nianqiao's all-knowing gaze, she shrank her neck again and quickly changed the subject, "Mom, what did you want me for?"

Zhao Nianqiao gave her another deep look and said, "Go check on the spareribs I'm stewing on the stove."

Having narrowly escaped disaster, Xu Zhi let out a silent sigh of relief.

Although there were only three of them for New Year's Eve dinner, Zhao Nianqiao had prepared a lavish spread, filling the table to the brim.

Zhao Nianqiao turned on the wall-mounted television in the dining room. No one was actually going to watch the Spring Festival Gala, but having some background noise was enough.

The three of them sat around the dining table together. Zhao Nianqiao specially picked up a piece of rib and put it in Liang Jinmo's bowl, saying, "Jinmo, try this. It's my specialty."

Zhao Nianqiao's culinary skills were faultless. Liang Jinmo tasted it, and when he raised his eyes, he saw that Zhao Nianqiao was still looking at him.

He remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "It's delicious."

Zhao Nianqiao smiled. "Then eat more."

Looking at Liang Jinmo, she occasionally thought of the past. When Liang Jinmo was very little and she went over to visit the Liang family, this child was never seen at their dining table.

Whenever she did catch a glimpse of him, he would always be walking past in a hurry with his head down, never making eye contact, appearing very solitary.

He wasn't among the group of kids running wild in the villa neighborhood either. He lived in the same neighborhood, and people gossiped about him, yet he seemed entirely isolated from the rest of the world.

Back then, she could never have imagined that one day, she would leave the Xu family with his help.

Recalling something, she cleared her throat and said, "Oh right, Zhi-zi, I talked to your dad about getting a divorce."

Xu Zhi was startled. "When did this happen?"

"Just the other two days. He called me again, asking if I could find a way to plead with Jinmo for him. He said he was at his wit's end now, and after the New Year, he has to pay the bank interest again. If this keeps up, the house won't last much longer."

Xu Zhi asked, "And what did you say?"

Zhao Nianqiao replied, "I told him I don't live in that house anyway, so if it doesn't last, it doesn't last."

Xu Zhi: "..."

She thought to herself that when it came to leaving someone speechless, Zhao Nianqiao truly had a talent for it.

Zhao Nianqiao continued, "Anyway, no matter what, he always circles back to those same few sentences, talking about marital affection... playing the emotional card with me. I told him our relationship fractured a long time ago, and if it weren't for the money, I would have brought up a divorce ages ago. Spare me that act."

Xu Zhi asked, "And then?"

"Then he was speechless for a while, and after a moment, he said that even if we get a divorce, we have to resolve the company's issues first. If I can help solve the problem, a divorce is fine. He said he really had no other choice."

Remembering something, Xu Zhi looked toward Liang Jinmo.

He had once said that if Zhao Nianqiao wanted a divorce, perhaps this was the best timing. Was this what he meant?

Liang Jinmo spoke up at that moment as well: "Auntie, what are your thoughts?"

Zhao Nianqiao looked at him. "The divorce procedure is very troublesome, and there's a cooling-off period. If I formally bring it up right now, he will definitely use it as a condition to demand your help."

Liang Jinmo said, "I can help him, but not necessarily in the way he wants. If his business model doesn't change, any money poured into it will just go down the drain."

Zhao Nianqiao lowered her eyes and said, "I definitely want a divorce. I don't want to carry debts under my name, but I also don't want him to have it too easy. Do you understand?"

"I know," Liang Jinmo said. "I'll figure something out."

His tone was steady and gave off a deeply reliable presence. After a moment of thought, Zhao Nianqiao said, "Then once the New Year celebrations are over, I'll formally file for divorce with him."

Normally, people wouldn't want their parents to divorce, but hearing this news, Xu Zhi felt a hint of joy.

Xu Heping looked down on women, and Zhao Nianqiao, originally a career-oriented powerhouse, had given up so much because of him. Perhaps by leaving him, Zhao Nianqiao could step into a completely different life.

At the end of tonight's meal, Liang Jinmo bit into a coin hidden inside a dumpling.

"Ah, it was in yours!" Xu Zhi exclaimed. "No wonder I didn't get it this year; it used to be mine every time. You know what? Finding the coin means you'll have good luck in the coming year. Who knows, maybe you'll make a huge fortune next year."

Zhao Nianqiao also smiled and said, "It seems next year's good luck belongs to Jinmo."

Liang Jinmo felt a momentary daze.

He had never celebrated the New Year like this, not even once.

Whether it was when he was with Gao Ying in his childhood, or later when he entered the Liang family, or after going abroad... and even upon returning.

At this time last year, he was still sitting like a sculpture in a chair by the bedside in Gao Ying's hospital room, staring at Gao Ying's withered face under the fluorescent light. The mother and son exchanged not a single word, perhaps because neither knew what to say.

His eyes grew somewhat moist, stung by the steam rising from the dumplings.

He pressed his lips together, put down his chopsticks, wiped the coin clean with a tissue, and handed it to Xu Zhi.

He said, "Here, take it. That way you'll have good luck next year."

Xu Zhi hurriedly shook her head. "How can I steal your good luck..."

"It's fine..." He paused, fixing his gaze on her eyes, his voice deepening: "I've already had enough good luck this year."